“Why Him?” Sensitive eyes might be asking “Why Us?”

James Franco fans might be thrilled with this new comedy about the boorish, brash,Silicon Valley Game Magnate, Laird Mayhew (Franco), who takes up with the  college age daughter (Zoey Deutch) of a straitlaced Midwestern couple ( Bryan Cranston and Megan Mullally). The Family is invited for a California Christmas meet and greet with disastrous results. The film was co-written by Jonah Hill  and John Hamburg (who directs here and who co-wrote the much better “Meet The Parents” movies) and produced by Ben Stiller. Unfortunately the creators have taken the lowest comedy common denominator to leave us with very few laughable moments. There are some laughs to be mined thanks to the usually reliable Bryan Cranston and Megan Mullally, and newcomer Griffen Gluck steals more than a few scenes, but the gross out factor is dominant. So if that’s the way you want to spend the Holiday Weekend, have at it, but leave easily offended at home to watch “A Christmas Story”.

Rated R ( Hard R!)

My GPA 2.0